Louisville and Nashville Railroad Train Station and Hotel AL
Stevenson Railroad Depot and Hotel, Stevenson Alabama
The town of Stevenson owes its very existence to the railroads; it was founded by and named for Vernon King Stevenson, who was president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company from 1846-1864.
In 1851-52 the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was built through, what was to become Stevenson. About 1852-1853 the town was surveyed and lots sold. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad was completed in 1856 making Stevenson a railroad junction around which the town developed.
The records of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroads show that a depot building was to be completed at Stevenson by January 15th, 1853; this is believed to have burned.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Stevenson; being the crossroad of two major railways and near the Tennessee River, became a strategic military position to control. It was occupied as early as April 1862 by Union forces and remained so throughout the war. Fort Harker; one-half mile south of the depot and Fort Mitchell, one mile north of the depot were built and several other forts were begun, but not finished before the war was over, to protect the railway depot and to cover for Bridgeport. Harper's Weekly named Stevenson as one of the seven most strategic cities in the South held by the Union. In August 1863, Stevenson became the major base of the Headquarters of the Department of the Cumberland and as such played a leading role in supplying the men, supplies, and equipment for the campaign for Chattanooga. Had Stevenson been occupied by the Confederates the Battle of Chickamauga could not have occurred and the course of the war might have been different.
In 1866 it was reported that the Government House at Stevenson, constructed between the tracks of the two railroads and known as the "Slush House," had been converted into a joint passenger house. In 1872, the Superintendent of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad reported that "A neat and commodious brick depot has been built at Stevenson, costing about six thousand dollars, the half of which was shared by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company." In 1887 extensive repairs were made to the depot including painting and it was listed "in good condition" by the 1895 Annual Report of the Memphis and Charleston Railway Company.
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company sold out to the Southern Railway Company in 1898, but the Stevenson Depot was bought by the Louisville and Nashville Railway Company at that time and is still in use.
The Stevenson Hotel was the center of all cultural activities for Stevenson in the 1800's. Here in the dining room was served the first iced tea and shown the first motion picture show in Stevenson's history. One day in April 1913, the hotel was unexpectedly inundated by trainload after trainload of hungry former Confederate soldiers who were on their way to a reunion in Chattanooga. The townspeople of Stevenson pitched in, made sandwiches, and brought them down to the hotel. That day about fifty trains passed through Stevenson, though, fortunately, some did not stop to eat. Today, the hotel houses three businesses; the Stevenson Choo Choo Restaurant, a barber shop, and a pool room.
Site Description
The Stevenson Depot and the Stevenson Hotel were both built about 1872 to serve the needs of railroad passengers. They are located about thirty feet apart, between the tracks of the Louisville and Nashville and Southern Railway lines on Main Street in Stevenson, Alabama.
The depot is a gable-roofed brick building approximately 67' long by 26' wide downstairs with a tower room, approximately 26' by 12' directly over the centrally located dispatcher's office. In influence the structure is Italianate with deep eaves supported by brackets that resemble a fancy script letter "f"; the deep eaves provide needed shelter around the depot for passengers and luggage. Each gable end has a triangle-shaped recessed plane with brick dentils and a circular ventilator opening, below which is a string of brick dentils and two rectangular recessed planes. On the northeast side, one of the end planes contains double doors and the other a window, while one of the southwest planes contains one window and a door and the other one window. The southeast side elevation is similar with four recessed planes containing in three a window and a door and in one, two windows. The northwest side also has four recessed planes with a door and a window in two, two doors and a window in one, and a bay window in the fourth, which is the dispatcher's office. The main floor is divided into four primary sections of almost equal space, being the baggage and express rooms, the former colored waiting room, the ticket and dispatcher's office and the former white waiting room. All openings have stone lintels and all windows are double sash with two over two lites.
The tower room was likely added in 1887 when company records indicate that "extensive repairs" were made to the depot. Stylistically, the tower is not compatible with the rest of the structure. It has a gable roof that runs perpendicular to the main structure's roof and terminates in pedimented parapets; each of the latter has a round ventilator opening and brick dentil moldings. The corners have pilasters which rest on those of the first-floor wall. There are two windows on each side of the tower; those on the long walls are located near the corners, due to the slope of the main roof. The tower windows have stone lintels and although they are double sash they have six over six lites and are not of the same vintage as those of the first floor or the nearby hotel.
The exterior of the depot is little changed from the time it was built.
The interior has only seen the addition of modern conveniences, most noticeably restrooms, and the removal of the stairs from the dispatcher's office to the tower room. Entry to the latter now is only through the tower room windows.
The Stevenson Hotel is a brick gable-roofed structure that connects to the depot by a 30' wooden walkway. It was originally 94' long by 28' wide and devoid of any ornament, but a subsequent two-story addition with a shed roof extended the length and enclosed the southwest end. Boxed Cornices terminate in returns at the northeast gable end where there is a segmental arched louver ventilator. Originally, the long sides had six bays each, the end facing the depot had three, (the center being the double-doored entrance to the lobby) and the southwest end had two bays. Directly behind the lobby was the great dining room about 27' by 57' and at the other end was the kitchen. The lobby and great dining room are now the Downtown Choo Choo restaurant; the great dining room has been divided into two rooms. The straight staircase from the lobby still rises to the second floor, but the one from the great dining room was removed years ago. The eight large guest rooms upstairs are now used for storage and most of the fireplaces that once heated the structure have been sealed up. All openings had stone lintels and all windows were double sash with two over two lites; recent changes have closed up some windows and made doors out of others. Other alterations have allowed for the addition of modern conveniences, but the hotel still retains much of its original character.
Looking south at the northwest sides of the Stevenson Depot and Hotel, and the north side of the Depot (1976)
Looking southwest at the southeast back sides of the Stevenson Depot and Hotel, and the northeast side of the Depot (1976)
